Years of driving truck across country have taught me that changes in water, especially from the mountains to the prairies can cause a reaction in your stomach. As per usual I filled a gallon jug with water before leaving the coast. This lasted me until we reached Anthony, New Mexico. I refilled the jug with desert water and that lasted me to Tuxpan, Mexico. However, there was enough of a difference in the water that for the first few days I didn't want to be too far from a banyo (bathroom).

It was cold, windy, and drizzly when we crossed the bridge over the Rio Grande River into Reynoza, Mexico. As Grant lives in Mexico his vehicle was filled with personal possessions. He had made a list of all that he had but when we got to the border check we got a green light which meant that we were to proceed without inspection.

From the border we proceeded to the customs office where we had to register the vehicle. Here I also registered. I showed my passport and gave them 20 P (pesos). They in turn gave me a little piece of paper.

In the past Canadians have not been required to use a passport but it has been rumoured that the new gov't will require it, starting next year.

In downtown Reynoza we stayed at the International Hotel. It is a seedy looking place but the rooms are clean and reasonable. For a room with a large shower, a double and a single bed, and cable TV we paid 300 pesos or $50 Canadian. (At the time of this writing the exchange rate was approximately 6 to 1, I bought, in Vancouver, at the money exchange, 600 P for $103.) In the room was a pitcher and glasses, bulk bottled water was available in the lobby.

The best part of the package was that the parking was across the street where we could watch the car from our window. Not that we needed to, the hotel has a security officer plus two parking valets that control the parking lot all night.

We left Reynoza Sat. Morning at 6 AM. Our map told us to take Hwy. 97. In downtown Reynoza there is a sign that says '97 Matomoros' but further on the signs say '101 Matomoros'. When you get to the edge of town there is a small sign that says 'Monterey, Hwy. 97.' As the first sign had said Matomoros, and we werenât sure where Monterrey was, I stayed on 101.

Then 101 split and we ended up on a supper freeway that was out in the middle of nowhere and it took us a long time to find a place to turn around. We then continued on the other 101 until we were into Rio Bravo. There we turned around. Back in Reynoza we were given directions to the turn off to San Fernando. I follwed the signs that said Monterey until we hit a fork in the road and then turned East to Ciudad Victoria. This is basically an industrial bypass of the city of Monterrey.

South of Monterrey in the middle of nowhere is a junction. There is no town shown on the map and the only civilization is a service station but here again you turn East, following signs that call for Ciudad Victoria. This took us to another junction which was well marked with signs saying Tampico, Tuxpan, Vera Cruz.

It gets confusing when you go around Victoria as you have to circle well South of the city to cross the river and then come back North before you swing East to go South again. Again this is an industrial bypass and you will avoid city traffic and the city. If you want to see the city continue straight ahead when you reach the intersection North of Tampico.

There is one well marked sign that says Tuxpan, Vera Cruz and then you are on your own. It gets confusing, thinking you are on the wrong road but if you just keep going, slowly, the road is rough, out in the country you will find a big sign that turns you to the left and lets you know you are still on the right road.

South of Reynoza we were worried about fuel so, checking the map, we filled up at the last stops before any long stretches. We needn't have worried, Pemex has opened several new service stations along the highway with several more under construction.

Drivers in Mexico are as idiotic as those in Vancouver and they all think they are in Montreal, spending more time using their horn than their signal lights or brake pedal. They do tend to use their signal lights when they are on the highway. They turn on their left signal light, not to indicate that they are going to change lanes but, to tell you that, in their opinion, it is safe to pass them.

Like in Canada, the police force, in this case the Police Transito (traffic police) are understaffed and underbudgeted, add to this the fact that they donât have radar and you have traffic that moves at speeds well above the posted limit. However it is not wise for foreigners to exceed the limit because all the local `Police Transito' know that foreigners have money.

This may change in the future as there are rumours that the gov't. is going to rebuild the traffic policing system.

We were never stopped by the `Police Transito' but several miles south of Reynoza there was a general road check which looks for the importation of goods from the U. S. Again Grant had his list ready but the officers only checked that we had registered the car and ourselves as temporary visitors.

We stopped at road blocks three more times during our trip. One was set up by police, not the `Police Transito' but federal police who donât worry themselves with traffic problems, one was set up by the military, and one by both the police and the military.

When the military are involved the road blocks often include sandbagged gun emplacements with 50 calibre machine guns. The police and the soldiers carry automatic rifles.

At the first road block we were asked to show our papers, at the next two we were waved through as soon as they saw our B. C. license plate.

Stopping two or three times for fuel and food we made good time by obeying the speed limit and crawling over the speed bumps. We also didnât break any springs in the few sections of highway that haven't been repaired. Basically the highway was pretty good with many sections having been recently repaved and paving taking place in other areas.

Some sections of the highway run for miles through wilderness but other sections go through congested areas of many small towns on the outskirts of larger towns or small cities. To slow the traffic down in these areas the gov't has constructed speed bumps that make the speed bumps in your Safeway parking look like smooth road.

Highway 180 is the main North/South artery along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The highway is solid traffic of busses, cars, and trucks. Many of these vehicles are in a hurry and don't care if they break something by speeding, through the many holes, or over the speed bumps.

When we would slow to crawl, through a hole, many of which are quite deep, or over a speed bump, some of which are wide, some of which are narrow but double, two, close together, some are simply a pipe, or a thick, hemp rope stretched across the road, other traffic would take the opportunity to pass, and they did it at high speed.

Twelve hours later, not counting the hour we lost getting lost in the morning, we arrived in Tuxpan (pronounced Tookspan, and sometimes spelled Tuxpam.).

The way Grant had talked I expected to find a sleepy little town but instead I found a bustling little city of 140,000. Being a Saturday night it was not easy to find a hotel room but eventually, without too much running around I got a room at the Plaza hotel.

Grant (on left), Grant's wife Nadia, Nadia's father, Chucho.